Volume 27, Number 2 - Wilderness Medical Society

January 24…
January 25…
It was incredibly hot today on the grounds of the hospital. Fortunately,
we have erected sufficient tents to accommodate all of the patients. We
estimate that we have more than 600 patients on the grounds now,
either in tents or living in a communal central area we call “the forest.”
While there has been considerable progress, we have a way to go with
communications (no phones yet), sanitation, information distribution,
acquisition of key equipment, and development of social services like
mental health.
We continue to have new patients enter the compound, including
nearly 100 emergency patients today. We are receiving patients referred
from the countryside and other hospitals. The operating rooms are busy
with orthopedic and wound care, skull fractures, hand surgery, facial
reconstruction, and the like. Neurosurgery is still not ready to go at
this facility.
The Swiss have a pediatric surgery service next to our pediatric area.
The tent ward is full of children with multiple amputations and severe
injuries. There is no candy coating this – their lives will never be the
same. A half a block away, when the wind shifts, it smells of death from
bodies buried in the rubble of the nursing building. We have learned
to adapt, to walk past this place and
wrinkle our noses. We no longer need
to wear facemasks.
To facilitate progress, we have selected a
chief of surgery and a nursing director,
and have identified sufficient staff to
cover the nights as well as the daytime.
I have to sneak away now and again
from my organizational duties to see patients and be a doctor. There
are many doctors here to help, and we are grateful to have them. The
emphasis now is to quickly transition this medical center back to its
rightful owners.
The city has been flattened, but the people are now picking up the
pieces. We notice a decrease in the amount of garbage in the streets, and
vendors are selling small amounts of fresh produce and cooked meat.
The food drops appear to have been successful.
I found someone willing to trade a hotel room shower for a medical
consultation. Even though there was no hot water and almost no water
pressure, it was the most wonderful shower I have ever taken.
At the end of our 9th full day working at the University Hospital in
Haiti, a functioning hospital has emerged.
Our tent E.R. saw nearly 300 patients today, and we are preparing to
see more than 500 tomorrow in what are essentially two rooms. To keep
the place running, we are not only doctors, but also electricians, masons,
and plumbers.
I find myself beginning to lose my physical endurance. Everyone is
getting tired…I can see it in the faces of the people with whom I have
worked for many days. Each day brings new crises of capacity, supplies,
sudden patient influx or something else. We have been with many of our
same patients now for more than a week and have come to know them,
so bad outcomes and deaths affect us a lot.
The media frenzy is beginning to die down. Four days ago, you couldn’t
avoid a camera or reporter being there to document your activity. If
that brings resources to Haiti, I am all for it. I have been disappointed,
however, in some of the innuendos. Let me tell you the truth – everyone
is working incredibly hard, getting along, cooperating, and there are very
few controversies. We have the operating rooms coordinated, a way to
care for orphans, and simple
paper medical records. Our big
problem is space, but USAID
[United States Agency for
International Development]
just brought us three big tents
tonight, which is a huge relief.
The city has
been flattened,
but the people are now picking up the pieces.
I visited many of the patients I
know this afternoon, just to touch their hands or wipe their foreheads,
and encourage them. Many are missing a leg or arm, and have lost
many relatives. Think about how life has changed for them and about
what you might do to make it a bit better for them. Please pick a relief
organization and make a donation. It truly makes a difference.
Tent City... the beginning.
Photo by Eric Holden.